Reay Tannahill (9 December 1929 – 2 November 2007) was a British

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

non-fiction Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with be ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

, and

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

, best known perhaps for two

bestsellers: ''Food in History'' and ''Sex in History''. She also wrote under the pseudonym Annabel Laine. Her novel ''Passing Glory'' won in 1990 the

Romantic Novel of the Year Award The Romantic Novel of the Year Award is an award for romance novels since 1960, presented by Romantic Novelists' Association, and since 2003, the novellas, also won the Love Story of the Year (now RoNA Rose Award). In 2018, awards were given to ...

by the

Romantic Novelists' Association The Romantic Novelists' Association (RNA) is the professional body that represents authors of romantic fiction in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1960 by Denise Robins (first president), Barbara Cartland (first vice-president), Vivian Stuar ...

Biography

Personal life

Reay Tannahill was born on 9 December 1929 in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Scotland, where she was brought up. Her forename was the maiden name of her mother, Olive Reay. She was educated at

Shawlands Academy Shawlands Academy is a state secondary school in the Shawlands area of Glasgow, Scotland. Admissions Shawlands Academy was Glasgow's designated International School and one of Scotland's most multicultural schools. It was situated in Shawland ...

, and obtained an MA in History and a postgraduate certificate in Social Sciences at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

. In 1958, she married Michael Edwardes; the marriage ended in divorce in 1983 and he died in 1990. Until her death on 2 November 2007 she lived in a terraced house in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

near

Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in ...

Career

Before she started to write, she worked as a probation officer, advertising copywriter, newspaper reporter, historical researcher and graphic designer. She published her first non-fiction book in 1964. With the international success that came with the book ''Food in History'', her publisher suggested a companion volume on the second great human imperative,

Sex in History Sex is the phenotypic trait, trait that determines whether a sexual reproduction, sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while ...

. For her 2002 revised edition of ''Food in History'', she won the Premio Letterario Internazionale Chianti Ruffino Antico Fattore. She also wrote historical

romance novel A romance novel or romantic novel generally refers to a type of genre fiction novel which places its primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and usually has an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Pre ...

s, and in 1990, her novel ''Passing Glory'' won in 1990 the

by the

. She belonged to the Arts Club and the Authors' Club, and was chairman of the latter from 1997 to 2000.

Bibliography

As Reay Tannahill

Wands, D C. "Reay Tannahill." ''Fantastic Fiction''. 23 Nov. 2006. 29 Nov. 2006 .

Non-fiction works

* ''Regency England: The Great Age of the Colour Print'' (1964) * ''Paris in the Revolution: A Collection of Eye-witness Accounts'' (1966) * ''The Fine Art of Food'' (1969) * ''Food in History'' (1973) (

Stein and Day Stein and Day, Inc. was an American publishing company founded by Sol Stein and his wife Patricia Day in 1962. Stein was both the publisher and the editor-in-chief. The firm was based in New York City, and was in business for 27 years, until clos ...

publishers) * ''Flesh & Blood: A History of the Cannibal Complex'' (1975) * ''Sex in History'' (1980)

Historical fiction

=Single novels

= * ''A Dark and Distant Shore'' (1983) * ''The World, the Flesh and the Devil'' (1985) * ''Passing Glory'' (1989) * ''In Still and Stormy Waters'' (1992) * ''Return of the Stranger'' (1995) * ''Fatal Majesty: A Novel of Mary, Queen of Scots'' (1998) * ''The Seventh Son'' (2001)

=Dame Constance de Clair Series

= # ''Having the Builders in'' (2006) # ''Having the Decorators in'' (2007)

As Annabel Laine

* ''The Reluctant Heiress'' (1979) * ''The Melancholy Virgin'' (1982)

References and sources

External links

Obituary in ''The Times'', 27 December 2007''A Dark and Distant Shore'': Tannahill's working papers, research notes and draft copies (ref. DM1294/9/4/3)
Penguin Archive, University of Bristol Library Special Collections {{DEFAULTSORT:Tannahill, Reay 1929 births 2007 deaths Scottish historical novelists 20th-century Scottish historians RoNA Award winners 20th-century British novelists 21st-century British novelists 20th-century British women writers 21st-century British women writers Women romantic fiction writers British women novelists Women historical novelists British women historians Pseudonymous women writers Writers of historical fiction set in the early modern period 20th-century pseudonymous writers